MaMkhize loses bid to block sale of R35m Sandown compound as court backs Sars

The Durban High Court has authorised the sale of five Sandown properties linked to Shauwn "MaMkhize" Mkhize, with proceeds held in trust while Sars pursues its tax claim. The KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Durban has authorised the sale of five luxury properties in Sandown, Johannesburg, that Sars says are linked to businesswoman and reality TV personality Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize, as the revenue service steps up efforts to recover unpaid tax. On 26 October 2026, Judge Jacqueline Henriques granted an urgent application allowing court-appointed curator bonis Willem Jacobus Venter to sell the properties. The proceeds must be held in an interest-bearing trust account. Sars then has one month to bring a further action asking the court to declare that the properties, or their proceeds, can be used to settle the debts of Mkhize and the Zikhulise Group. The sale does not hand Sars the money. That question will be settled in the follow-up litigation. What Sars says is owed As of 19 September 2025, Mkhize’s personal income tax liability stood at about R13.33 million, including interest. Per reports by Daily Investor, she was also held personally liable for the Zikhulise Group’s tax debt of roughly R112.57 million, bringing the total to about R125.9 million. Auctions of movable assets had by then recovered around R6.1 million. The Sandown compound The five properties form a compound in Sandown Extension 24. Four, at 56 Adrianne Street, are registered in the name of Israeli businessman Yaron Peretz. The fifth, at 22 Aston Street, is held by 22 Aston Investments (Pty) Ltd. Sars maintains Mkhize is the beneficial owner. It points to evidence from a tax inquiry that she and related entities funded much of the purchase price and handled negotiations. A valuation put the combined market value at about R35 million, with a forced-sale estimate of R24.5 million. The municipal valuation is roughly R22.8 million. Why the court moved now The court found the properties were deteriorating, Scrolla Africa reported. Unpaid municipal charges of about R1.79 million are outstanding on four of them. Private security costs roughly R188 000 a month, and insurance premiums come to nearly R98 000 every six months. Sars has been funding these costs under a preservation order, and the court accepted that they were eroding the assets’ value and defeating the purpose of preservation. Mkhize, her son Andile Mpisane and related entities opposed the sale. They argued, among other things, that it was premature and that the properties served as a primary residence. The court rejected the key arguments and ordered them to pay costs. The residence argument drew scrutiny at the hearing in April, when Judge Henriques asked why it was not explicitly stated in the affidavits. Sars’s counsel argued that converting the properties into cash was mutually beneficial because Mkhize’s frozen accounts meant she could not maintain them and Sars could not use taxpayers’ money to do so. Judgment was reserved at that hearing. A dispute two decades in the making Mkhize, formerly Mpisane during her marriage to Sbu Mpisane, built a high-profile business career that has spilled over into a media career of sorts, thanks to her status as a reality TV star with several famous friends. Her company, Zikhulise Cleaning Maintenance and Transport Service, won large government contracts in the early 2000s. She became known for her lavish lifestyle on the reality series Kwa Mam’Mkhize and as owner of football club Royal AM. Her tax troubles go back to at least 2005, when she was convicted of tax fraud over false declarations. Sars audits between roughly 2010 and 2014 flagged under-declared income, missing VAT returns and allegedly inflated invoices. Criminal charges of fraud, forgery and tax evasion collapsed in 2014 after a court found the prosecution had withheld favourable evidence. Civil recovery continued. Zikhulise was provisionally liquidated in 2018 and finally liquidated by the Pretoria High Court in 2020 over about R204 million in taxes, penalties and interest. Earlier attempts to seize assets, including a La Lucia mansion, a farm and luxury vehicles, produced mixed results, and some items were temporarily returned. More recently, Sars obtained a provisional preservation order under the Tax Administration Act in November 2024, later confirmed, covering the Sandown properties and other assets. In 2025, luxury vehicles, designer handbags and other movables were seized and auctioned. Royal AM also faced league sanctions and separate court battles over financial and tax issues. Mkhize’s position Mkhize has consistently disputed aspects of the assessments. She has sought deferred payment arrangements and challenged Sars in court, at times accusing the revenue service of bias or bad faith. Sars says it is simply enforcing tax obligations against a taxpayer whose companies benefited from public funds while building up large unpaid liabilities. For now, the court has prioritised turning the deteriorating properties into cash to protect their remaining value. Whether Sars can apply the proceeds to the debts will be decided in further action, which it has a month to bring.